Obligatory COTE One-shots & Reactions

Lost In The Moment

Timeline : Year 1 Volume 5. This takes place during the sports festival.

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Kiyotaka's Point Of View

Everyone has ambition

That exception is me, of course. I've never felt like I wanted to accomplish something for the sake of ambition. Ironically, this made me the complete opposite of "That man." But I've always been very competitive, always wanting to be challenged and pushed to learn new experiences. That's why I never truly hated "That place." It was a place that challenged me and pushed me, but after some time, it wasn't enough. It stopped being a challenge and just became a mundane chore which is why I ran away to this school.

Nagumo walked forward as he spoke, getting in position to receive the baton as it came his way. Not long after Nagumo nabbed it, Shibata also received his baton.

Shibata: All right!! Nice! Leave the rest to me!

Fire blazed in his eyes as Shibata chased down Ngumo. After that display, my eyes met with Horikita's brother, Manabu's, for an instant. I could tell that he was fighting some internal struggle while his eyes met mine.

Manabu: To think that you're the anchor.

Kiyotaka: I'm just a substitute for someone who's been injured. Originally, your sister planned to be in this position.

Manabu: I see. I suppose she's struggling to make it through.

She probably dreamed of running alongside her brother...

Manabu: I've observed your class up until a short while ago. I thought there was no hope for you. However, I don't get that impression from you at all in this relay. What happened?

Kiyotaka: You don't really need to pay attention to first-year Class D, though. Right?

Manabu: I keep an eye on every class. No exceptions.

Kiyotaka: I suppose, if anything has changed, it would be your sister.

Manabu: I see... I'll ask you one thing. What about you? I can't feel any excitementfrom you.

Kiyotaka: I'm not interested in the sports festival. I already know the outcome.

The class's feelings... Sudo's feelings... Horikita's feelings... I had no interest in any of those. All I had was a single premonition...

Kiyotaka: You probably won't be around to see this, but our class will becomestronger,

Manabu: I'm not interested in such a fanciful future.

He shifted his gaze towards his teammate, who was daring nearer by the second.

Kiyotaka: In that case, would you be interested in learning exactly whatkind of person I am?

Manabu: What?

I saw mild interest in his eyes as they shifted back toward me again.

Kiyotaka: If you'd like, I'll race against you seriously.

I mean it...

Manabu: You really say some interesting things. Did I have the wrongimpression of you? I thought you hated standing out or getting involved. Youseemed like you'd just watch things play themselves out. Why change thatnow?

Everyone always has the wrong impression of me at first... Different worlds... Kept from different people...

Kiyotaka: If you give up your chance at second place in order to race me, I'llaccept your challenge. It's not often that a first-year and third-year have theopportunity to compete like this, is it?